Dining Out For Life: Dine Out, Fight AIDS – April 28

Help fight AIDS by just dining out at any of these great restaurants . . .

Dining Out For Life is a national organization that is hosting a special day of dining in cities and towns throughout the country next week to raise money for AIDS research and assistance. The event takes place on April 28 and all you need to do is eat at any of the 30 restaurants in CT (or in other cities). AIDS Project New Haven, in particular, will see much needed funds in the ballpark of at least 25% of each check going to their cause.

For the full list of cities participating visit here or to see just CT restaurants, click here. 

Here’s a copy of the CT restaurants with phone numbers for reservations/info, when you can eat, and how much of a donation they’ll be sharing:

168 York Street Cafe(203) 789-1915 Donating 100% Dinner, Late Night

Assaggio(203) 483-5426 Donating 60% Dinner

Bella’s Cafe(203) 387-7107 Donating 50% Breakfast, Lunch

116 Crown(203) 777-3116 Donating 25% Dinner

Amici Tavern(203) 691-6761 Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner

Anaya Sushi(203) 891-6716 Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner

Asti Ristorante and Bar(203) 208-4041 Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner

Aunt Chilada’s(203) 230-4640 Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner

BARRACUDA bistro & bar(203) 691-5696 Donating 25% Dinner

Basta Trattoria(203) 772-1715 Donating 25% Dinner

Cafe Amici CT(203) 848-1682 Donating 25% Dinner

Cafe George by Paula(203) 777-1414 Donating 25% Lunch

Cave a’ Vin Winebar(203) 777-6206 Donating 25% Dinner, Late Night

Claire’s Corner Copia(203) 562-3888 Donating 25% Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert

Consiglio’s Restaurant(203) 865-4489 Donating 25% Dinner

G-Zen Restaurant(203) 208-0443 Donating 25% Dinner

Geronimo Bar and Grill(203) 777-7700 Donating 25% Dinner

Home(203) 483-5896 Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner

ION Restaurant(860) 346-9210 Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner

Katalina’s Bakery(203) 891-7998 Donating 25% Breakfast, Dessert

Kitchen ZINC(203) 772-3002 Donating 25% Dinner

Moe’s Southwest Grill(203) 776-6637 Donating 25% Lunch

Nellie Green’s(203) 483-8400 Donating 25% Lunch

Ola Restaurant(203) 891-0522 Donating 25% Dinner

Rainbow Gardens(203) 878-2500 Donating 25% Dinner

ROIA Restaurant(203) 200-7045 Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner

Shell & Bones Oyster Bar and Grill(203) 787-3466 Donating 25% Dinner

Soul De Cuba Cafe(203) 498-2822 Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner

Stonebridge Restaurant(203) 874-7947 Donating 25% Dinner

Trattoria ‘A Vucchella (203) 383-2837 Donating 25% Dinner

Zafra Cuban Restaurant & Rum Bar(203) 859-5342 Donating 25% Dinner 

---

More about Dining Out For Life from their site:

Dining Out For Life® is an annual fundraising event involving the generous participation of volunteers, corporate sponsors and restaurants. In exchange for their financial support, restaurants are listed in a city wide marketing campaign in an effort to increase customer traffic.

In 1991, Dining Out For Life was created by an ActionAIDS volunteer in Philadelphia. Dining Out For Life is now produced in 60 cities throughout the United States and Canada.

More than 3,000 restaurants donate a portion of their proceeds from this one special day of dining to the licensed AIDS service agency in their city. More than $4 million dollars a year is raised to support the missions of 60 outstanding HIV/AIDS service organizations throughout North America. With the exception of the annual licensing fee of $1,150, all money raised in these cities stays locally.

The 2016 Dining Out For Life International Date – April 28, 2016 – is fast approaching, so be sure to save the date! Several participating cities hold their Dining Out For Life events off the International Date, so be sure to see if a city near you has an event coming up soon!

Dining Out For Life International Association, Inc. is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization. ® = Registered trademark of Dining Out For Life International Association, Inc.

Swine + dine: [oink] brunch pop-up series @ Caseus

[oink] is heading to Caseus in New Haven. Get your tix now! Picture from their Facebook page.

[oink] is a new popup from Chefs Craig Hutchinson who worked at the award-winning Ribelle in Brookline, MA and Alex Lischynsky who worked with Craig at Radius among other great restaurants in Boston. Their focus? Real, from the ground, from the farm, sustainable and pure food done right. And, it sure doesn’t hurt that the food they are using for their events comes from CT land. They’ve been making appearances from place to place, too, most notably and recently at Black Hog Brewing for a continuing series of pop up dinners.

Barcade, the Arcade for Adults, Is Coming to New Haven with Brews and Old School Gaming

Fall can’t come soon enough because that’s the scheduled opening of Barcade New Haven. Now, what is Barcade exactly? Think of it like this: it’s one part American craft beer bar with one part retro, classic arcade, and one part American pub grub mixed in for good measure. They started up in Brooklyn back in 2004, and have expanded to Jersey City, Philly, and St. Mark’s Place . . . and they have set their sights on New Haven.

Must Buy: Bar’s 15th Annual CT Real Ale Festival Tix on Sale Today – New Haven, CT

As opposed to the 15th Annual CT Fake Ale Festival?

 

Ah, something new to learn, people:  Real ales are top-fermented and undergo a secondary fermentation in the same bottle or cask in which they are served. As we just hinted at, Cask beers are considered real ales. This unique brewing process offers up added flavors, notes, and even in some cases a different kind of mouthfeel.

 

Local 9 Year Old Connecticut Girl Competes on Fox’s MasterChef Junior!

---

We’ve watched every single MasterChef season since it began, but we couldn’t help ourselves when they put out the first ever MasterChef Junior last year. The premise? 16 young and talented kids compete in mystery box challenges and pressure challenges to see who will become the MasterChef. Our favorite from last year, Alexander, actually won, so it was great to see his success. What did he get? $100,000, the MasterChef trophy, and world-wide recognition . . . the same things that are up for grabs this year!

The Meat Truck Chomps Down on New Haven and Sets Paws on Fairfield County

Give us one of each, plz. Photo courtesy of The Meat Truck

Chimichurri Steak, photo courtesy of The Meat Truck

Stuff yo face on some great grub! Photo courtesy of The Meat Truck

There are days when we want to go light, there are days when you might mix a little light with something heavier.  Then again, there are days when you break out into a hardcore, primal, carnivorous rage and take down meaty dish after meaty dish.

So, Jose Perez did like any American, food (and fun)-loving person would do:  he decided to open up a food truck:  The Meat Truck to be exact.  Their first launch was on July 4 weekend and they sold out of all their food on that day. If  that’s any indiction of their future success, then we think they’ll do very nicely.  While we haven’t had a chance to try the food yet, we did snag an interview with Jose to let you know more about what you can look forward to when The Meat Truck hits up Fairfield and New Haven Counties.

What gave you the inspiration to start a food truck?

A Connecticut bar makes Esquire’s list of Best Bars in America 2014

Connecticut gets into the mix on Esquire’s Best Bars in America 2014 list!

Okay New Haven, we get it…you’re pretty awesome.  You get your own billboards on 95, advertising your famous and award-winning pizza pies.  You get Yale…and you get included on a list that includes some of the best bars in America.  Specifically, you get included on Esquire’s 9th annual Best Bars in America guide, put together by David Wondrich, Esquire’s knowledgable cocktail expert.

While Wondrich’s list spans the entire country, from Seattle, to Portland, to LA, to Houston, to Richmond, Boston, NYC, and it also features Anchor Restaurant on 272 College Street in New Haven.  According to Wondrich, when you go you need to order a gin martini with a twist.  Here’s what he had to say about Anchor:

Gardening Tips and Seed Swap Schindig with Slow Food Shoreline @ Luck + Levity Brewshop

Do you think someone will bring seeds for a money tree?

Whatca planting in your garden this year?  The same tomatoes, peppers, and zukes…or will you be trying new things?  Or, will this be the year you finally get your act together and start your own backyard garden?  Whatever your skill level or needs, there’s a great event that Slow Food Shoreline is hosting on May 4 from 2-6 at Luck & Levity Brewshop in New Haven.  Consider it Home Gardening 101 along with a Seed/Seedling Swapping opportunity.  Please help out Slow Food Shorelines by registering here (it’s free, but donations to their summer education program will be kindly welcomed) so they know how many people will be coming.  Also, please feel free to bring whatever drinks you’d like, though the more local the better.  Perfect choice?  New England Brewing Co, right down 95 in Woodbridge!

A trifecta of events to make Derby Day 2014 awesome in Milford, New Haven, + Norwalk

2014 marks the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby, the Indy 500 of the horse-racing world.  As we mentioned in our post about the special Kentucky bourbon tasting at Harry’s, the derby is really just an excuse for people to dress in huge ass hats and wear lots of Vineyard Vines and searsucker suits.  But, you can’t just get all dressed up and all fancy looking then stay at home.  Psssh, what fun would that be?  You best believe that we’ve got to help you out a bit.  So, here are three really exciting and adventurous things to do on Derby Day…hideous hat not necessarily included.

---

Plan B Burger, Milford

PopShop Market Taking Over New Haven w/ Food Trucks + Shops

Lots o’ food trucks!

PopShop Market is back for some more awesomeness here in 2014 and their biggest and baddest spot ever:  The Shops at Yale!  This one day free event on 4/27/14 from 11-4 pm is a continuation of a series of events that PopShop Market has held in Fairfield and New Haven Counties, featuring an excellent variety of personally curated vendors.  

Not only will you be able to find whatever you need to get ready for spring, there will also be a ton of food options from some of CT’s best food trucks  for you to make your own lunch/brunch.  And, who doesn’t like to get a bit saucy during the day?  Of course ya do, it’s the weekend and you’ve earned it.  So, get ready for PopShop’s Signature BarCar that will feature spring-inspired cocktails and a CT brewery.  Details on this haven’t been revealed yet, so make sure to like them on FB and follow them on Twitter to get first dibs on the info.